Staff Blog
Morning Rounds, December 12th
Now admittedly there are people older than me out there who
have no doubt seen more editions of the annual Villanova-St. Joe’s Holy War
than I, but today, in the wake of Nova’s 59-56 last minute win, I don’t think I’m
going to believe any of their ‘it’s now what it once was’ hype. It couldn’t be better than that, because nothing is better than that.
Villanova won behind a worksman’s effort from damn near
everyone – Dante Cunningham continued to be a man, Scottie Reynolds hit shots
that big time players hit, and Reggie Redding earned the minutes he took from
the McDonalds’ All Americans in front of him – and St. Joe’s kept it close with
Darrin Govens‘ strength of will and the smiling eyes of Big 5 basketball in
their corner. You’ll read plenty of
recaps (Joe Juliano’s HERE,
Mike Kern’s HERE,
the AP’s HERE
(with video), and Dom Cosentino’s Big 5 Post – the one you really should be
checking out after this type of game – HERE)
so I’ll avoid too much of the nitty-gritty and instead focus a game that made
my living room seem like an incredible atmosphere (I couldn’t get down to the
game, I was trying to corner Tyler Green
and talk 1995 Phillies’ baseball with him. True story.). Every possession mattered, not just for the
teams but for the schools.
It is rare in
sport to have rivalries where respect really does trump hatred. The Phillies don’t like the Choke Artists, and
the Redskins avoid picking Cowboys in their fantasy drafts – but the Holy War seems different.
While both schools go head-to-head on
the court I’m guessing that today both are damn proud to be part of a game like
that off it. They should be.
 |
| Best as I can tell, this is the only picture taken of this game. |
| Big Five Post |
“This was a classic. As a fan, you love them. As a coach . . . when it’s over, I can be a fan again.”- Jay Wright
Three lines on their world:
- The Celtics are off to the best start in the teams’ storied history
- Tim Tebow copped some more hardware
- and the Bears knocked off the Saints in a game I had forgotten about completely
Three lines on ours:
- The Phillies locked up Raul Ibanez for 3 years at $30 million
- Cole Hamels goes to NYC and calls a Spade a Spade
- and the Flyers won a barnburner
Phillies, Birds, Sixers, Flyers and what everybody is talking about after the jump
EAGLES
Les Bowen gets McNabb’s take on the benching and the offensive turnaround. SKIP
Ashley Fox thinks McNabb’s benching turned the entire team around. READ
Les Bowen’s notes look at Reggie Brown’s benching and more. SKIP
Ed Barkowitz talks with Hank Fraley about the Birds’ superbowl appearance and life with the Browns. SKIP
Brookover’s notes report that Buckhalter will see action Sunday, Fraley is coming home, and more. SKIP
Paul Domowitch doesn’t seem to understand that the NFL isn’t a charity but that’s just the lede to his enjoyable around the league friday column. READ
Ray Parrillo compares 2008 to 2006. SKIP
John Gonzalez thinks benching Reggie Brown is progress, is delighted with Cole Hamels’ comments, and more. READ
Sam Donnellon on the playoff beards. SKIP
Rueben Frank’s notes say Ken Dorsey is having a rough go of it as the Browns’ QB, the Eagles have stopped shaving, and more. SKIP
Rueben Frank says McNabb has been his old self since taking that half off. SKIP
SIXERS
Mark Kram says the Sixers are focused on the defensive end in their rematch with Cleveland. SKIP
Kate Fagan looks at the game tape and says the Sixers are struggling on D. READ
Frank Fitzpatrick reports that Cat Mobley had the same heart problem that Hank Gathers and Reggie Lewis had. The Knicks trade might have saved his life. READ
Keith Pompey talks to Mobley’s old Cardinal Dougherty coaches about the former prep school star. READ
Tom Moore takes a look at the laundry list of problems plaguing the 76ers. READ
PHILLIES
Jim Salisbury reports that the Phillies are interested in Raul Ibanez. SKIP
David Murphy looks at all the shots Hamels took at the Choke Artists (for the record, ‘the choke artists’ is definitely replacing ‘the metros’ as my go-to moniker in describing the choke artists). READ
Paul Hagen’s notes say the Phillies are set on spending their money on pitching while Charlie is dead-set on finding a right handed bat. 0-2 with Ibanez. READ, for the hilarity
Paul Hagen says the Phillies finished the Winter Meetings without making any major moves. SKIP
FLYERS
Sam Cardichi’s notes say Simon Gagne’s numbers look healthy, and more. SKIP
Wayne Fish credits Craig Berube for the Flyers’ success in the power play. READ
TODAY and MORE
It’s Friday so some way some how we’ll get NFL picks, hopefully a surprise review of the Phillies’ yearbook video, and a couple quick hits.
As always, feel free
to email
with any questions, suggestions, comments or complaints.
